Becoming adept at any sporting activity requires practice that sometimes requires a large field. For example, hitting a baseball or golf ball typically requires continual, periodic practicing in a large open space where the ball can travel several hundred feet or yards and not do any damage. Unfortunately, access to such a large open space is often unavailable and such availability is oftentimes seasonal or effected by weather. Consequently, most people simply do not have the opportunity to practice their chosen sporting skill often enough to become an accomplished player. Some people would also love to be able to play in famous places like Yankee Stadium or Augusta National.
If there were an inexpensive, unobtrusive device which could be easily erected within the confines of a residential home, office or pro shop and which kept balls or other objects from flying as far as they typically might, and may also provide a projection and targeting means but would not hinder the full swing or other launch process of the player, that could be used almost anywhere, indoors or outdoors, even the amateur players would be able to practice more. Of equal importance, if the backdrop could quickly and easily be folded and rolled away, or otherwise hidden, allowing the space to be converted back to its normal residential or other use, it would be more acceptable in a home or limited space environment.
There have been attempts to provide backdrops to contain batted or struck balls or other objects. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,760, entitled, “PORTABLE GOLF DRIVING NET ASSEMBLY” to Bednardczuk, discloses, “a portable golf driving net assembly which is simple to assemble and disassemble. The net is formed of a frame and a net is wrapped around the frame and secured thereto by passing separate lacing members through the wrapped portions of the net which overlap the top and side members of the frame, and through the corresponding non-overlapped portions of the net. The net is quickly removed from the frame by removing the lacing members.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,246, entitled, “SPORTS NET” to Byrne, discloses, “a sports net and the mounting structure therefor which are of some height and width used for play or practice of golf, tennis, basketball, baseball or the like and secured to a one or two car garage and mounted in the garage above the top frame. The netting is of scrim, i.e., a coarse, open weave fabric on a plastic roller with a reel and axle support means for storing and lowering the netting. The sports net may be used in the garage for golf or tennis practice in inclement weather or out of doors with the garage door open. The mounting is between the lower edge of the raised garage door and the frame when the garage is raised.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,219, entitled, “GOLF PRACTICE CAGE” to Tillery, discloses, “a golf practice cage having a plurality of nets defining a boxlike enclosure open at the front. The nets are attached to a rigid frame by a plurality of attachment members which locate the net in spaced relation to the frame so that rebounding of flying golf balls is prevented. A pair of free hanging rebound nets at the back of the enclosure absorb impact forces and also prevent golf ball rebound. The net defining the floor is trained at its forward extremity about a lateral frame element which is longitudinally movable to adjust the tension of the floor net. Tension elements are arranged to underlie the floor net to keep it from sagging, and a section of damping material such as carpeting overlies the floor net to prevent golf ball rebound and to define a sloping, generally planar surface to cause golf balls to roll to a collection section at the front of the golf practice cage.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,230 entitled, “BOOTH FOR PRACTICING GOLF INDOORS” to Dunaway, discloses, “a practice booth for golf with a putting pan which serves a number of functions. The pan itself retains the lower edges of net like walls of the booth, and gathers end supports these walls when the pan is hoisted by ropes or cables to the supporting roof of the room in which the booth is erected. The putting pan is made of bendable but ridged hollow sections which permit the upper surface to be warped to simulate variations in lies of putting greens. Alternative carpet like coverings are available to change the putting surface characteristics. A removable target for chipping or driving attaches to one net wall of the booth. The target is made of a foam elastomer slab which dents easily to mark the impact of the driven ball, but slowly restores to its original flat shape after a time.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,112, entitled, “RETRACTABLE SPORTS NET” to Betz, discloses, “an apparatus for the practice of any sport involving a ball that is propelled in the air includes a planar section of netting that is surrounded by an elastic cord. The netting is attached to the elastic cord by a plurality of rings that are attached to the netting and which also encircle the elastic cord. A ceiling plate is attached to the ceiling and it includes a locking mechanism that secures a draw cord in any desired position. The draw cord is used to raise or lower a base tray portion of the apparatus from an upper position proximate the ceiling plate to a lower position of rest upon a floor or ground surface. When the base tray portion is raised it gathers the netting as it is raised until it makes contact with a pair of end caps that are attached to the ceiling plate at opposite ends thereof. In the raised position, the apparatus forms a neat closed assembly that contains the netting. The base tray portion includes a pair of planar end members that are each attached to a center planar member by hinges. The pair of end members are, therefore, adapted to rest flat upon the ground when lowered and to elevate at an angle with respect to the ground when raised. When the end members are flat upon the ground the netting is unfurled and the apparatus is adapted for use to attenuate the kinetic energy of the ball.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,297,076, entitled, “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RETRACTABLE ENCLOSURE” to Pohrer, discloses, “a method for assembling a sports enclosure includes coupling a driving gear to an upper support structure, coupling a net having an upper edge and a lower edge to the upper support structure such that an enclosure is at least partially defined by the net, and coupling the lower edge of the net to the driving gear such that operation of the driving gear raises the net such that the net is folded in an accordion like manner between the upper support structure and the lower edge of the net.”
In another example, in PGPub US2012/0322567 A1, entitled, “RETRACTABLE GOLF TRAINING APPARATUS” to Manieri (one of the inventors here), discloses, “An apparatus for assisting in the training of various sporting pursuits, such as golf, is described. In some examples, the training apparatus is a retractable apparatus configured to attach to a ceiling of an indoor space in order to move a net into a suitable position via a rotatable support bar or other similar mechanism.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,164,830, entitled, “SCREEN ASSEMBLY FOR SIMULATOR” to Astill, discloses, “a screen assembly for a projectile-based simulator is comprised of front, right and left fabric panels that form a hitting bay with a front projector impact screen. Each fabric panel can be raised and lowered with respective roller assemblies that operate unison so that the fabric panels are simultaneously raised and lowered. Zippers are provided between each of the fabric panels that are configured to cause adjacent fabric panels to engage as the panels are lowered and to disengage as the panels are raised to allow the panels to wind upon respective roller assemblies.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,274,737, entitled, “RETRACTABLE FRAME OF PROJECTION SCREEN” to Wang, discloses, “a retractable frame of a projection screen, which comprises: a receiving case; a rolling shaft; a rolling device; a first support rod having one end laterally extended with an engaging plate having a plate hole, two opposing sides of the engaging plate respectively having an engaging surface; a second support rod having one end extended with two engaging arms, and each engaging arm having an engaging hole; a combination member connected with the second support rod and the first support rod; a top supporter; and a projection screen. When being unfolded, the top supporter is upwardly pulled till the connection location of the second support rod and the first support rod being approximately a line, so the engaging arms can be tightly abutted against the end portions of the engaging surfaces for achieving the objective of support.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 7,489,443, entitled, “ROLL-UP PROJECTION SCREEN” to Congard, discloses a, “front projection screen compris[ing] firstly a support layer of substantially black color suitable for rolling onto a roll-up tube, and a weight at its bottom edge, and secondly a projection surface that is substantially white or pale gray, being smaller in size than said support layer, and being fastened to the support layer via a junction at its top edge and overlying the face of the screen that is to receive projection.”
The foregoing examples, each taken alone or combined in ways that would be possible to combine, lack the totality of features disclosed herein that, in certain embodiments, provide roll up projection screens and/or projectile backstop protective netting requiring extended width with minimal installation size, all packaged neatly in an unobtrusive, inexpensive, fully portable, retractable backdrop apparatus, that is fully deployable at the touch of a button.